Transformation
by Silverstreams
Summary: After getting a few ideas from Aperture's old tests, GLaDOS injects Chell with praying mantis DNA in an attempt to turn her into a stronger test subject.


This is based on a prompt from the brand-new reboot of the Portal kink meme, located at portalkink. dreamwidth .net

GLaDOS decides to revive the Mantis Man tests again, so she injects Chell with Praying Mantis DNA. I'd like the transformation to be slow and detailed, and if you so please, excruciatingly painful (but that is only optional). All while trying to solve regular test chambers.

* * *

Fwop.

Tschhhh.

The portal dissipated off the dark gray wall. Chell cursed internally, readjusting her stance and firing again.

An orange portal locked into place. A pop came from behind her, and her blue portal flashed open. A few quick steps and she'd be at the chamberlock and out the door.

She almost dreaded completing the test. Walking through that door meant another flurry of insults and taunts—but the sooner she got it over with, the sooner she could return to quitness. One of Chell's favorite parts about these more complex test chambes was the relative silence granted during their duration. While she solved it, GLaDOS could not speak. And the harder the test, the more time Chell spent completing it. A win-win for the both of them.

She passed through the emancipation grill, and a static shock made her skin tingle. Her portal device buzzed, portals disengaging.

"You know how I'm going to live forever, but you're going to be dead in sixty years? Well, I've been working on a belated birthday present for you. Well... more of a belated birthday medical procedure. Well. Technically, it's a medical EXPERIMENT. What's important is, it's a present."

Chell didn't get in the elevator.

While GLaDOS bluffed more often than not, she could never be sure. And with something like that—a medical _experiment_—she didn't want to get in that elevator on the one-in-a-million chance that she wasn't joking.

Besides, she needed a rest. These circular elevator rooms provided a nice place to duck out of her eyes for anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. Much better than napping in an elevator. She'd never tried it—and she didn't plan on it. GLaDOS controlled those tubes they travelled in as easily as she controlled the panels. Dozing off in one of those would be placing herself in the claws of her enemy.

She'd been there. And she wasn't going to let that happen again.

Twenty minutes passed. The elevator didn't depart.

A click and an exasperated sigh drifted over the speakers.

"Oh, come on. If you're looking to sleep, there's a relaxation pod prepped at your next stop."

Chell exhaled, giving a small tsschh sound of disapproval. Right. She'd only go in one of those again if her life depended on that—and even then, it would take some convincing.

Five more minutes passed. The instructional panels flickered blue, cycling through their synchronized animations for the umpteenth time.

"You want a break. I know. It _is_ the day after your birthday, after all. My offer still stands about the break room," she said, voice smooth. "Get into that lift and you'll make all of this much simpler."

The test subject sunk to the ground, slipping off her long-fall boots and rubbing her calves. She sighed, leaning against an unbroken panel. As GLaDOS regained full control of her facility, these spaces of solitude began to grow almost nonexistent. In earlier chambers she'd managed to duck beneath broken panels to rest, but places like that had been all but eradicated.

"When I said getting into that elevator would make things simpler, I didn't mean it'd make things easier on me. It all takes the same amount of effort on my part, and it makes no difference to me what you choose. You're just making things unnecessarily hard and painful." The AI paused for one long moment.

Chell didn't get into the elevator.

"Well, you've made your choice. I just hope you don't regret it."

A few instructional panels sparked and clattered onto the dark floor. GLaDOS pulled away the supporting panels. A new hallway sprung to life, locking into place.

"Go on," said GLaDOS. "I'm doing this for your own good, after all. Now go to the next test."

Chell reached up and tightened her ponytail with a hard pull. With weight in her legs, she rose to her feet. Two long-fall boots dangled from one hand, and the portal device hung from her other.

She'd missed the sensation of being barefoot in Aperture, of letting her hardened feet touch chilled metal. Her boots were so hot and slick—but out in the air, her legs could breathe. And she honestly didn't care what GLaDOS thought. The AI would just have to wait while she slipped her shoes back on at the start of the next chamber.

She walked through the bright hallway, turning a corner and entering a small room filled with non-portable surfaces. A chamberlock in the far corner twisted closed, and a panel flipped up to cut off the hallway—no doubt to keep Chell from going back and wasting more time.

"Now that I'm fully reconnected, _I _ have access to all of Aperture's old test results. Turns out that a perfectly good test involving injecting praying mantis DNA into test candidates was thrown to the side. You know why? _Ethics," _she said, voice lowering in disgust. "Well, that and the violent behavior exhibited by the man-sized mantises."

Chell's chest rose and fell. She pulled her portal device close to her chest and backed against the wall. Whatever this present—this _surprise—_was, she wanted no part of it.

"Go on—get on the table. This _is_ my belated birthday present to you, after all."

Chell kept her face blank, heart still thumping in her chest.

A claw jutted out from behind her and locked around her waist. The portal device slipped from her hands as she struggled, and the claw pulled her forward. She dragged her heels against the ground, metal burning her bare feet as they slipped across. A pang of regret coursed through her—she shouldn't have taken off her boots.

"I had an entire room set up for this, you know," she said. "A comfortable table. A relaxation pod for afterwards. I even managed to scrape up some painkillers. But if you're going to be this stubborn, this is what you get."

GLaDOS hoisted her up and then dropped her onto the makeshift operating table like a ragdoll. The table groaned beneath her, creaking as her head banged against it.

"Hold still," said GLaDOS. The same claw pinned her around the middle, and Chell pulled in her legs in an attempt to ram against it with her knees. "It's just a shot. Just _relax,_ and you'll be right back to that testing you love so much."

Two delicate claws extended from the floor, one grabbing at her wrist and pulling her arm taut. The other wielded a large needle, hovering dangerously close to her inner forearm.

"I'd show you some footage of the original experiment, but since you're a bit _busy_ I'll go ahead and talk. Those scientists really were idiots—trying to fully convert a man into a mantis instead of choosing and isolating specific attributes to integrate…" she said, then switched to a sickeningly sweet voice. "But don't worry. _I_ know what I'm doing."

The tip of the needle slipped into her arm like a knife into cake. Chell twisted, legs and other arms jerking. Her pinned-down arm remained perfectly still, and she could only stare as it slid in farther and farther. Chell's gut twisted in disgust.

"You'll thank me one day," said GLaDOS. The needle pulled out, a singular drop of blood surfacing on her arm.

The claws released.

Chell scrambled off the table, slipping and crashing onto the ground. She didn't get up, and instead curled on her side and pulled her arm close. There, it was over. It was done. She blinked twice, steadying her shaky breathing.

"Oh, don't be melodramatic," said GLaDOS. "It was just one shot. And besides, the real fun hasn't even begun."

* * *

Click.

The chamberlock twisted open, disappearing into the frame. With the immediate danger cleared, Chell pushed herself onto her stomach and then into a sitting position.

She snapped her long-fall boots back on, flexing her legs. Right, then left. She leaned forward and yanked the straps tighter until they were unbearably snug. A loose boot could mean a shattered leg from a high enough fall.

She slipped the portal gun back into her hands, rising to her feet. Though useless in this room, the weight of the device reassured her. So long as she held onto this, she could survive in Aperture.

The hallway led to Chamber 15. She walked through another chamberlock, spotting a trailing red line. Turrets. Three bots in front of her called out, their targeting systems blocked by a hard-light bridge.

Above her, GLaDOS insulted her jumpsuit. Chell only half-listened, her heart still pounding. Adrenaline clung to her, and the events replayed themselves over and over in her head. She'd been injected with praying mantis DNA, but she had no idea what that meant or what might happen to her.

She was a fully-grown woman after all, with legs and arms and a fully human body. One shot couldn't change her the same way it might change an embryo. Changing into an oversized mantis seemed unlikely, considering how useless she'd be as a test subject.

Chell rearranged a light bridge to shield herself from turrets. As she walked alongside it, a wave of heat wrapped around her, a choking feeling like being trapped in a locked car on the hottest summer day.

She exhaled, brushing her sore arm across her forehead. One touch confirmed that her body had launched itself into a fever, attempting to burn out the invading injection. Her sweat-soaked clothes stuck to her as if she'd been in a downpour of rain, and the test subject couldn't help but think that there was some truth to GLaDOS's earlier clothing comments. A vague sense of dizziness came over her, and the test subject paused to lean against a wall.

The speakers popped on with a click. "I'm not supposed to interrupt you, I know. But this isn't about the test. I just wanted you to know that that little shot should be taking effect any minute now. But don't worry. Any pain you'll feel will be nothing compared to the pain I felt when you killed me," she said. "Just remember, I died from that."

Chell stepped onto a faith plate and launched into the air, crashing shoulder-first onto a light bridge. She landed on a high-up ledge, where no turrets could get her. Well, at least she could take a moment to rest.

"I know it's a hard concept to grasp, but listen to me," she said. "I really am only doing this for you." Her voice rose at the end, and Chell's skin crawled. "These tests can't stay easy forever, and eventually you WILL mess up. You will get shot. And if I can't make you a bit more bulletproof, you will die."

A wave of cold crashed into her, as if she'd been tossed into an industrial freezer. Chell scooted closer to the light bridge, leaning her head against the dark wall. She closed her eyes for a moment, savoring the heat of hard sunshine on her face. And if she listened close enough, a faint tune washed over her from beneath the incessant buzzing.

It was a tune she'd heard radiating form Aperture devices before—namely, the companion cube. Whatever the tune was, it calmed her. It quelled the tide of fear rising up inside of her—because despite GLaDOS's reassurance, she knew she had no control over what would soon happen.

She was scared—but she'd never show it.

Chell continued testing. The remainder was simple enough. Knock out a few more turrets. Grab a cube. Lower a glass wall, and then she was out the exit.

"You really are doing great," said GLaDOS. "But if I keep giving you tests this easy, we're not going anywhere. You are the only living test subject in this facility. If you die, there's no one left to test and science cannot continue."

Her face slipped into a stoic expression as she stepped into the elevator.

"Oh, don't look at me like that. It's not going to kill you. Far from it, actually. If I wanted you dead there'd be far more efficient methods than watching you suffer," she said, clicking off communications in the elevator.

As she entered the next test chamber, a prickling feeling swelled inside of her. At first she dismissed it as unease, a side effect from the computer's words.

She hopped over a small red beam—from a turret behind a _grate_, of all places. How was she supposed to get rid of it—oh.

"You'll be happy to know that mantis DNA inside of you is classified as apterous . In layman's terms, you won't be growing wings. That would defeat the purpose of the portal device, after all."

The prickling intensified, shifting into a feeling as if her legs had fallen asleep. But it spread into her legs and arms and chest, an internal static that grew more and more chaotic. She stepped onto a button and activated the laser. With two carefully aimed portals, the turrets on the far side of the glass exploded one by one.

"Oh, and laser burns will hurt less. And you'll also be protected from any acid you happen to fall into. Well, long enough that you can at least attempt to haul your generously-proportioned body out of there before you die," she said.

She shifted slightly on the button, her body suddenly heavy and limp. The smallest motion triggered a flash of pain, making her leg tense up unbearably tight and burn as if a thousand fire ants had invaded her bloodstream, gnawing away at her veins.

She froze, barely daring to shift. Though far more intense than a partially asleep leg, she hoped it would wear off momentarily. Any motion now would just cause unnecessary pain.

"You _can_ still die, don't worry. But just think of all of the _testing_ we'll be able to do," said GLaDOS. Chell frowned at the camera in the corner, then reshot a portal to redirect the laser. She winced as her arms jerked back.

The turret behind the grating caught on fire, crying out. If she was lucky, then—

BANG.

The grating flew off and crashed against the opposite wall. A smoking square was left behind, leaving a space just big enough for her to crouch into.

"I know it hurts, but don't worry about it. In scientific terms, it's called molting. You know what that is, right? When an insect—such as a praying mantis—grows too large for its exoskeleton, it sheds its skin and grows a new one. But when this happens with a human," she said, voice softer. "Well, you're about to find out exactly what happens. Even I don't know the specifics."

Chell pulled in a breath, the expansion of lungs lighting up her chest with pain. Whatever was going on _hurt,_ and she needed to get into that opening.

Better to do this quickly—like tearing off a hangnail. The longer it took, the more painful it'd be. She exhaled, repositioning her portals so that she'd land right at the entrance. She fell through a portal on the floor, letting her boots realign her on the opposite side of the room.

She took a few quick steps and ducked onto her knees, vision swimming with static. Every small movement was agony, like being jabbed with long needles repeatedly. Her eyes stung as she crawled her way in, moving and then freezing as the surges of pain coursed through her. Every palm, every knee that touched the ground stung worse than a slap on a severe sunburn.

From a camera in the corner, GLaDOS watched. She wouldn't miss a minute of this.

As annoying as her insistence on disappearing was, the AI knew she'd come back out eventually. She may not witness the transformation itself. She'd get to see the results, though. Good enough. But for now, she could only laugh internally as the subject inched her way into the den. Already, her slow and methodical movements resembled a mantis.

Scriiitch.

Chell's hand slipped, and she skidded down the pile of debris and into the room. Her eyes watered, and she winced as a jolt of pain rippled through her side.

Farther. She needed to go farther in and out of the camera's line of sight.

Unable to stand and unable to crouch, she dragged herself around a corner and to the center of the room before curling onto her side.

She closed her eyes, breathing as shallow and slow as she could manage while not passing out.

The feeling—it was getting worse. Another bang of pain shook through her, centered just beneath her skin like the flashes before. All over her body it felt as if someone had jammed a blade beneath her toenails and pushed, tearing farther and farther into her while leaving the nail itself untouched.

Her skin felt too tight for her body.

It took her a long while to pinpoint the overall sensation—as if everything had been stretched taut and was now splitting at the seams. She worried that a flex of the arm, a twinge of the nose would tear streaks through her skin. The sickening sensation spread through her body, stretching every muscle excruciatingly tight.

Six hours.

For six hours, she laid on the ground in a haze of pain. Bullets had grazed her and brushes with lasers had cut jagged scars onto her skin. She'd even suffered a broken wrist—but never before had she felt such a constant, ebbing pressure as if she'd be torn apart from the inside out. The smallest move felt as if she'd burst her skin altogether, splitting it like an overripe banana.

But Chell never said a word.

She exhaled and gave a soft whimper every so often, but never once did she cry out. Cuts stung her lips and tongues from where she gritted her teeth, and silent tears stained her face.

It took six hours before she blinked open her eyes.

When she wiped crusted tears from her eyes, she felt only a vague sense of pressure on both her hand and her face. She moved it back, pressing a hand onto the floor. She couldn't feel the chill of the facility, or the hair plastered to her face or the slick folds of her clothing. Her sense of touch had disappeared, as if it had been severed altogether.

She blinked again, extending out her arms.

She hadn't grown; she hadn't shrunk. But she wasn't the same Chell.

A light green shimmered just beneath her skin, the vibrant shade muted by her flesh. The color matched the green hue of her veins. But this color was all-encompassing, and she got glimpses of bright shell through tears in her skin.

She'd been right. Little cracks spiderwebbed across her body, centered at joints and extending outwards. Lines of green marked where blood should have poured out, but instead she only saw the exoskeleton.

Hesitantly, she pushed herself into a sitting position. A knuckle rapped against her arm and bounced off. Her skin—well, whatever was beneath her skin was hard yet flexible, like some sort of robotic, prosthetic limb.

But her skin was but a thin film stretched over metal, ready to scrape off at any moment.

She winced, then took another look around the den. She only remembered looking around once in that six hours. Halfway through. That's when it had been. At the height of her pain, she'd looked around and noticed a gap on the far side of the room. A gap. The wall didn't meet the floor, and instead the edge dropped off into nothingness.

It would have been so easy to slip of the edge. So easy to roll away and not give GLaDOS the satisfaction of a successful experiment.

She'd almost done it, too.

The test subject had inched her way past folded cardboard boxes and empty bean cans until she was almost at the edge. It hurt, yes, and she'd almost screamed out—but she had passed her breaking point long ago.

A quiet symphony erupted from beneath her, floating up through grated floors. It was a cheerful tune, a distraction so unexpected that she'd looked up in shock.

But instead of finding the serenading turrets, her eyes fell upon a mural thrown up against the wall.

Dead scientists laid in a pile of blurred white coats and crossed out eyes. Orange letters stretched across the pile, spelling out a word. Unmortality.

Her breath caught in her throat. She blinked again, refocusing.

She'd been wrong. It didn't say unmortality—it said unmorality. But something clicked inside her—something only the misread phrase could have unlocked.

What GLaDOS had done to her was far from moral, but she couldn't allow herself to become another mortality at Aperture. She wouldn't let her death become another footnote, another triumphant gain for science.

She couldn't do it. She couldn't let herself die.

So long as she could, Chell swore she'd live to fight against GLaDOS or anyone else who dared stand in her way. And this realization—this promise to herself—got her through those last three agonizing hours.

And even now, Chell got the feeling that they'd get her through her remaining time at Aperture.

She pushed herself to her feet and made her way toward the den's exit. Whatever came next, she was more than ready for it—and she'd make GLaDOS regret ever making her enemy stronger.

* * *

A/N: Thanks for reading! I've just noticed that there's a couple of people who followed this story, and I'd just like to say that this is it. It's complete, and I have no plans on turning it into a multi-chapter fic. I've already got one of those in-progress. But thank you anyways!


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